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capitalism

As you may know I’m not a great fan of the Occupy movement or indeed any anti-capitalist protests. I feel that ship has sailed, the capitalist world is here to stay. Any alternatives look great on paper but due to human nature always fail. People always will want more for themselves. Don’t agree well, the device you are reading this on was made by capitalist big player, so go and live in a box.

However, what I try to believe in is better. Which incidentally is Rupert Murdochs British Sky Broadcastings slogan. Some of the large conglomerates are indeed only interested in money, and the quality of their product suffers. It is this which (when money is tight) forces my arm when I choose where I shop, not some hippy bullshit (tofu shit maybe).

Coffee anyone? (As Costa can’t make tea)

An insult to gnats piss

UK high street big players Costa and Starbucks, two prime examples of big companies who have let their quality slip chasing the big money in some cases tax free! In my home town coffee at either of these outlets is often poor. Burnt in some cases, orders are confused in Costa, fulfilled by fake familiarity by Starbucks.

Potentially Racist Statement alert!!!

The language barrier exists in both outlets. It is very difficult to complain that your coffee is burnt and you Tuna Melt is still swimming if the barista barely knows the English for “Cup”. You would have thought that as barista in a coffee shop is a customer service position a good grasp of the English language would be a prerequisite. No?

So where do I go thats better? I go for a Picnic.

Picnic is a local coffee shop. (@Picnicfoods) The coffee is of high quality, the staff know how to make a cup of tea and the cakes are homemade. The proprietor of this fine establishment appears to have an excellent recruitment policy. All staff can communicate and are polite and helpful they also happen to all be very cute. Stepford Waitresses maybe?

So I urge you, when looking for somewhere to go for your “cup of Joe” try the local shop, as opposed to the big guys. Not for any ethical reasons you just might get something a little better and flavourful.Try it for other things too, you might get a level of customer service you are not used to.

Like this:

Do me a favour? You know you want to..
Dip your hand in your pocket/handbag and pull out your wallet/purse. Any luck you’ll have some money in there.. Now send it to me.. No! (well if you want to) If you have folding money just take a second to look at it.

Now what is it? Depending on what type of person you are your brain may have said “it’s a fiver” or “it’s a 10 dollar bill” or “it’s a worthless euro” or… you could say “It’s a bit of paper” be it green and uniform in size (how do blind americans cope? Talented guide dogs?) or grey and differing in size depending on it’s “worth” If you actually look closely they are little works of art, pictures of great leaders, royalty or inspirational figures, that we never look at.

That piece of paper in your hand has caused more deaths than any weapon, any illness, or pandemic. People will do anything for it, governments will even trade in computer representations of it. Don’t worry this is not a big anti-capitalist rant, firstly because I cannot see any workable alternative and it would be hypocritical of me to type such a rant on a Apple Mac, as it would be for me to live blog from a anti-capitalist rally via a iPhone.

The monetary system is flawed. The quest for survival effects all species in the universe, and as human beings our definition of surviving differs greatly. Some feel they can survive on a small budget with a modest house, some need lots of cash and would put their own Grandma on ebay to get it.
This post comes out of a conversation I had many moons ago. I said I would quite happily take a pay cut to do a job I enjoy. My friend said this was mad as we get paid too little anyway. He was right, we did (and still do) get paid a pittance but as long as I can eat and afford to give my family modest Xmas presents money isn’t the main driver for me. For some folks it is.

Don’t get me wrong, I worry about money. We all do. If you have a lot, you worry about not having a lot or how you can get more and if you have none, you worry about where you are going to get some, or how you are going to eat! But as we head into the new year some of us will get new jobs with larger salaries. I urge everyone to ask themselves “will I enjoy this job?”, not “I’ll enjoy the things I have as result” Maybe if you enjoy what you do you’ll get those things.